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Sphero spins off a new company to make robots for police, military use
Robotic toy maker Sphero is spinning its public safety division into a new company focused on robots for first responders, government and defense.
Sphero makes its 'RVR' programmable tank robot available to all
Sphero, which you probably know for its spherical robots like the BB-8, launched a Kickstarter project for a customizable tank-style robot earlier this year. Now that robot called the RVR (pronounced "rover") is available for purchase. The company expects all backers to have received their units today, but you can now buy one from Sphero's website or Amazon if you weren't able to back the project a few months ago.
Sphero Mini Activity Kit offers a mini-bot and 15 lessons for $80
For years, Sphero has pushed to bring robotics into the classroom. Now, the company wants to bring robotics and coding lessons to the living room, too. Today, the company unveiled the Sphero Mini Activity Kit: 15 step-by-step activities that can be done at home, as well as app updates aimed at budding coders.
Sphero acquires LittleBits and its set of scientific toys
The popular STEAM education company Sphero announced today that it has acquired LittleBits. You may remember LittleBits as the company behind toys that teach kids about electronics, and Sphero has made a name for itself creating educational coding robots. Together, the companies plan to bring STEAM and coding products to more classrooms, homes and educational programs.
The best coding kits for kids
I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Part of the reason I write about technology for a living is that I couldn't cut it as a coder. It's not that I regret my career choice (I definitely don't), but I do regret having never really learned the art of programming. And it's not because I want to build apps or games or anything. It's because you pick up a lot of peripheral skills. This is the primary reason I want my kid to learn to code. I don't necessarily want him to become an engineer (though I certainly wouldn't be upset if he did). Instead, I see coding as a great teaching tool. It's a way to teach cause and effect and problem-solving skills. And mastering the logic behind simple routines can even make your kid a better and more convincing communicator.
RVR is a Sphero robot for budding tinkerers
Sphero's been amusing us with its collection of robotic balls, like its adorable BB-8, for eight years. But lately the company has been getting away from the toy aspect of its products and embracing its educational potential. It's had an app that can be used to program many of its current bots for a while now, but that's only for budding coders — what do kids interested in hardware have to tinker with? Indeed, Sphero is about to release its first robot specifically made to be physically modded, called the RVR.
Sphero's Specdrums rings bring beatmaking to your fingertips
Just a few months after Sphero acquired Specdrums as a part of its shift away from robotics, the funky crowdfunded rings are center stage at its CES booth and getting ready to ship. I gave them a try, and despite a noticeable lack of musical talent I was quickly able to tap something out that vaguely resembled a loop that could play on LoFi Beats To Chill/Study To. The rings are embedded with Bluetooth transmitters as well as optical sensors, which tie a particular color to whatever sound you might like. The accom software -- running on an iPad during our demo -- comes with tons of preloaded sound samples and of course lets you add your own, then works behind the scenes to keep everything synced up. As shown by a much more talented musician, they can no more magic when assigned a wider assortment of sounds, and paired to colors of things around you in the real world. With enough skill, you could create music and play around with sounds anywhere inspiration strikes, not just on their multicolored mat. The rings will start shipping next week, and are already on sale at a price of $65 for one and $99 for a pair.
Sphero gets into app-enabled music gadgets with the Specdrums ring
Back in June 2018, Sphero acquired Specdrums, a startup that found Kickstarter success with music-making rings. As part of that deal, we knew Sphero would be working on its own version of the product, and today the company's making it official. The new but familiarly named Specdrums are app-supported rings that let you, or your kids, play music by tapping the wearable instruments on different colors and surfaces. There are hundreds of customizable sounds and loops, all of which are created by tapping the Specdrums rings on the included playpad and other colored items around you.
Sphero is done making licensed Disney bots like BB-8 and R2-D2
Say goodbye to Sphero's cute BB-8 robot. In fact, say goodbye to all the company's licensed products, including R2-D2, BB-9E and Cars' Lighting McQueen. According to The Verge, Sphero plans to sell its remaining inventory of licensed toys, but it will no longer manufacture more once it runs out. Indeed, the products' listings on Sphero's website says "This is a legacy product and no longer in production." The company isn't just discontinuing the models, though: It's ending its licensing partnerships completely, because it's no longer worth dedicating resources for their production.
Apple will offer over 2,000 free coding classes for EU Code Week
As part of the EU's Code Week celebrations, Apple will offer over 2.000 free coding sessions at its stores across Europe. The event runs from October 6th through the 21st. Coding sessions are open to anyone who wants to attend, and there will be at least one per day per Apple Store. There will be a range of sessions available with different coding and content, including "Kids Hour: Sphero Maze Challenge" classes, which will teach kids to code using the Sphero Bolt.
Facebook and Sphero team up to offer coding robots to schools
Facebook has announced a new initiative that aims to teach coding skills to more school kids. Targeting primarily underrepresented student groups — such as Black, Latino/Hispanic, Native American and female demographics — CodeFWD will allow teachers to apply for a free set of 15 Sphero Bolt robots upon completion of a series of curricula.
Sphero Bolt is a robotic ball with programmable LED lights
Sphero has a new robotic ball, and it's noticeably livelier and more colorful than its older models. The Sphero Bolt will look like the SPRK+ at first until its 8x8 LED Matrix starts moving and displaying data, directions or animations programmed using the Sphero Edu app for iOS, Android, Kindle, Mac, Windows and Chrome. It features 360-degree infrared communication, so several devices can talk to each other no matter what their positions are. A couple of Bolts displaying Pac-Man ghosts, instance, can follow or evade the one displaying Pac-Man anywhere it is.
Sphero branches out beyond robots with Specdrums acquisition
When Sphero dismissed 45 employees in January and refocused on education, it was in uncharted waters. It didn't mark a complete divergence from Sphero's robotic roots, but it empowered the company to create things it could "actually own" instead of manufacturing Disney-licensed products. And it seems Sphero has already exercised its new-found freedom by acquiring Specdrums, a Boulder-based start-up that found Kickstarter success with music-centric wearable rings of the same name.
After Math: Robot revolutionaries
The whole "fear of SkyNet" trope is a bit moot at this point, seeing as how robots have already infiltrated our roads, skies and cafeteria-style eateries. You can already see it happening with Lyft adding 30 self-driving vehicles to its Las Vegas fleet, Sphero debuting yet another domestic robopanion, and gangs leveraging drone swarms to blindside the FBI. Numbers, because how else are we going to learn to speak the binary language of our future overlords?
Sphero spin-off's Misty II robot is now available for pre-order
Sphero spin-off Misty Robotics has officially announced the mass-produced version of the robot helper it showed off at CES this year. The cute little machine, officially called Misty II, still resembles Wall-E like its predecessor, but it can actually do things unlike Misty I. Thanks to developers' work on the original robot, it now comes with a set of capabilities and has a bunch of downloadable skills to choose from. It can move autonomously and respond to its environment, create a 3D map of its surroundings, recognize faces, respond to commands, charge itself and talk.
Sphero cuts jobs and refocuses on education
Sphero was supposed to have a banner holiday with a slew of toys themed around Star Wars, Cars 3 and Spider-Man on top of its own self-branded creations. However, things turned out very differently. The company has confirmed to TechCrunch that it recently laid off 45 workers and is restructuring around education. Holiday sales weren't terrible, Sphero said, but they weren't "exactly what we had expected" -- the education space is one of those areas that "continues to shine." Most of the layoffs affected Sphero's home in Colorado, although people in Hong Kong and the UK were also affected.
The best toys and coding kits for kids
This is the first year that Engadget has included a toy section in its holiday gift guide, and it's already one of the biggest (and in our opinion, best) sections. Here you'll find both coding kits from Lego and others intended to teach little one basic programming skills, as well as toys that just happen to be electronic in nature. And yes, the re-released Tamagotchi pets made the list -- you know, for the nostalgic millennial on your list.
Sphero’s R2-Q5 ‘Star Wars’ droid is basically a goth R2-D2
Sphero just announced a new app-controlled robot a few days ago, the Mini, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have anything else in the works. The company has now revealed the latest member of its Star Wars family, R2-Q5, the Empire's version of the beloved R2-D2 character. As is the case with all of Sphero's toys, you can take charge of R2-Q5 via its Droids app for iOS and Android, where you'll be able to drive it, hear it make sounds and use it to play various mini games. You'll need to act fast if you want one for yourself: Sphero says the number of R2-Q5 numbers made is in the "low thousands," and Best Buy has an exclusive on it in the US, while John Lewis has that honor in the UK. Pre-orders are open now for $200/£200, with shipping expected to happen November 5th.
Sphero's Mini app-powered robot is its smallest one yet
Over the past year, Sphero has been busy teaming up with Disney on connected toys for film franchises like Star Wars, Spider-Man and Cars. But today the company is launching a product that takes it back to its roots: a mini version of its original app-controlled robot. The new rolling ball, aptly named Sphero Mini, is about the same size as a golf ball and comes with a removable shell, which you can get in white, blue, green, orange or pink colors. As is to be expected given the different frame, it does come with a few tradeoffs compared to models like the SPRK+. Mini isn't waterproof and connection range is limited to 10 meters, as opposed to 30 on its higher-end sibling.
Meet R2-D2 and BB-9E, Sphero’s new ‘Star Wars’ toys
It's been nearly two years since Sphero introduced its app-controlled BB-8, a replica of the cute rolling droid that first appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. That toy quickly became one of the most coveted by fans of Disney's franchise, and it wasn't long before the company followed it up with a Battle-Worn Edition, designed to look as rugged as the character does in film. And today at IFA 2017, Sphero announced it is expanding its connected-toy universe with two more Star Wars droids, R2-D2 and BB-9E. Naturally, Sphero worked closely alongside Lucasfilm to bring these to life, just as it did with BB-8. The idea, as you might expect, is to make them as close to the real thing as possible.